James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

weatheriscool
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Webb telescope fully deploys sunshield in mission milestone
The tennis court size, kite-shaped apparatus acts like a parasol, ensuring the observatory is kept in the shade so that it is able to detect faint infrared signals from the far reaches of the Universe.

The James Webb Space Telescope fully deployed its tennis-court sized sunshield Tuesday, a critical milestone for the success of its mission to study every phase of cosmic history, NASA said.

"All five layers of the sunshield are fully tensioned," said an announcer at the observatory's control center in Baltimore, where team members cheered, a live feed showed.

The 70-foot (21 meter) long, kite-shaped apparatus acts like a parasol, ensuring Webb's instruments are kept in the shade so they can detect faint infrared signals from the far reaches of the Universe.

Each of the layers was unfolded one by one over two days. Working together they offer an SPF (sun protection factor) of about one million.

Because the telescope was too large to fit into a rocket's nose cone in its operational configuration, it had to be transported folded, origami style. Unfurling is a complex and challenging task, the most daunting such deployment NASA has ever attempted.
https://phys.org/news/2022-01-webb-tele ... hield.html
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Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

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Webb deployment complete
08/01/2022 364 views 6 likes
ESA / Science & Exploration / Space Science / Webb

Today the James Webb Space Telescope team successfully fully deployed its iconic 6.4-metre, gold-coated primary mirror, completing the final stage of all major spacecraft deployments to prepare for science operations.

“The successful unfolding of the Webb telescope has been a complex but impressive engineering masterpiece. On behalf of ESA, I want to sincerely congratulate our colleagues at NASA for this achievement. Webb is an international partnership led by NASA, where ESA is providing key contributions in the form of instruments, science teams and, very importantly, a successful launch on Christmas Day from the European Spaceport in Kourou. I am grateful to NASA, CSA and our European team including CNES, Arianespace and ArianeGroup for this excellent cooperation,” says Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General.

The two wings of Webb’s primary mirror were folded to fit inside the fairing of an ESA-provided Ariane 5 rocket prior to launch. After more than a week of other critical spacecraft deployments, the Webb team began remotely unfolding the hexagonal mirror segments of the largest mirror ever launched into space.
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration ... t_complete
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Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

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Space telescope's 'golden eye' opens, last major hurdle
https://phys.org/news/2022-01-space-tel ... major.html
by Marcia Dunn
NASA's new space telescope opened its huge, gold-plated, flower-shaped mirror Saturday, the final step in the observatory's dramatic unfurling.

The last portion of the 21-foot (6.5-meter) mirror swung into place at flight controllers' command, completing the unfolding of the James Webb Space Telescope.

"I'm emotional about it. What an amazing milestone. We see that beautiful pattern out there in the sky now," said Thomas Zurbuchen, chief of NASA's science missions.

More powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope, the $10 billion Webb will scan the cosmos for light streaming from the first stars and galaxies formed 13.7 billion years ago. To accomplish this, NASA had to outfit Webb with the largest and most sensitive mirror ever launched—its "golden eye," as scientists call it.
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Kevin_Hall
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Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

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I think that those who are interested in already know it, nevertheless JWST is now fully deployed. Currently the golden segments of the telescope are being aligned. Here is a link for the live stream of the process.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world", - Einstein.
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If I recall correctly, first images should start coming back in June!
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Re: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

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JWST just arrived home! :D

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